Fluid blending pump



July 14, 1970 s, KNEDUK 3,520,518

FLUID BLENDING PUMP Filed Aug. 12 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 \H 6 W {aka/arzav July 14, 1970 o. s. KNEDLIK 3,520,513

FLUID BLENDING ;PUMP

Filed Aug. 12 .1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 23 United States Patent 3,520,518FLUID BLENDING PUMP Omar S. Knedlik, Coffeyville, Kans., assignor toOmar Knedlik Enterprises, Inc., Montgomery County, Kans.,

a corporation of Kansas Filed Aug. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 751,771 Int. Cl.1501f 7/14 U.S. Cl. 259-7 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Pumpapparatus for blending fluid streams including a casing with an axiallyextending opening therethrough and cover plates sealingly engagedtherewith. The casing is provided with recesses and radial inlet andoutlet ports which cooperate with the recesses. Impeller members aredisposed in the recesses and a shaft slidably mounted in the axiallyextending opening is provided for actuating the impellers to convey thefluids from the inlet ports to the outlet port.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention relates to a pumpfor blending a plurality of fluids together in predetermined quantitiesand simultaneously pumping the blended mixture to a storage container.More particularly, the pump is useful in the production of ice creamwherein air of a predetermined quantity is blended with liquid ice creamand the resultant foamed mixture is fed into an ice cream freezingmachine.

Apparatus and methods for blending fluid streams is shown in my U.S.Pats. Nos. 3,179,382 and 3,179,383. The present invention producesproducts similar to those produced by my earlier inventions, but thepresent pump is less expensive to manufacture and more versatile in use,than the pump described in the aforementioned patents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide animproved blending pump for mixing a plurality of fluids in predeterminedquantities.

A further object is to provide an improved pump which is simple in form,easy to manufacture and efficient in operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the description,drawings and claims.

One form of the invention comprises an apparatus for blending fluidstreams including a casing having an axially extending openingtherethrough, and cover plates on both sides of the casing sealinglyengaged therewith. The casing has a first recess therein, a first andsecond inlet means cooperating with the first recess, and an impellermember movably mounted in said recess for limited oscillatory movementrelative thereto. The thickness of the impeller member is substantiallythe same as the depth of the first recess and the impeller memberoccupies a substantial portion, but not all, of the recess so that aspace exists between the impeller and the side of the recess for themetering of fluid. A second recess is provided in the casing oppositethe first recess and is coaxially aligned therewith. The second inletmeans cooperates with the second recess, a conduit extends between therecesses, and a second impeller member is movably mounted in the secondrecess for limited oscillatory movement. The thickness of the secondimpeller member is substantially the same as the depth of the secondrecess and occupies a substantial part, but not all of the recess,thereby allowing space for the metering of fluid. An outlet meanscooperates with the second recess, and a shaft having eccentricallyaligned surfaces thereon extends through the axially extending openingin the casing. The shaft is driven by a power source, such as anelectric motor, and actuates the impeller members for conveying thefluids from the inlet means to the outlet means and effecting thedesired blending.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevational view ofthe pump embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the pump embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the pump;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the pump with certain partsremoved;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the pump with certain partsremoved;

FIG. 7 is another front elevational view of the pump with certain otherparts removed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a part of the pump embodying theinvention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 99 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, animproved pump is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and is generally indicated bythe numeral 20. Pump is cylindrical in configuration and includes acasing member 21 having cover plates 22 and 23 secured on both sidesthereof. The plates are held in place by bolts 24 which extend throughopenings in cover plate 22 and casing 20 and threadedly engage openingsin cover plate 23. A sealing ring 25 is disposed in a groove in eachcover plate for providing a tight seal between the casing and the coverplates.

Casing 21 has an axially extending aperture 26, as shown in FIG. 3, anda circular recess 27 with a pivot member 28 disposed therein. The pivotmember may be integral with the casing or may be a separate membersecured to the casing, and is preferably circular in configuration. Animpeller 29, also generally circular in configuration, is disposed inthe recess and is capable of pivotal or oscillatory movement about pivotmember 28 (FIG. 4) in a manner that will be described later. Theimpeller has a diameter which is smaller than the recess so that a spaceexists between the impeller and the wall of the recess. The impeller hasan aperture to receive a portion of a drive shaft 30 and a U-shaped slot31 which is adapted to cooperate with pivot member 28. The thickness ofimpeller 29 is substantially equal to the depth of recess 27.

On the opposite side of recess 27 is another circular recess 32 whichhas a greater depth than recess 27 for a purpose which will be describedlater. Referring to FIG. 6, recess 32 has a pivot member 34 angularlydisposed with respect to pivot member 28 in recess 27. Impeller 35 isdisposed in recess 32 and is of substantially the same configuration asimpeller 29. Impeller 35 is smaller in diameter than recess 32, therebyleaving a space between the impeller and the recess wall. The thicknessof impeller 35 is substantially equal to the depth of recess 32 (FIG.9).

Casing 21 has a radially extending first inlet port 36 with a channelopening 37 extending into recess 27 as shown by FIG. 5. In the preferredembodiment ice cream mix would be fed through inlet conduit 38 to port36. A second inlet port 39 is provided and has a channel opening 40(FIG. 9) extending into recess 27. This port is adapted to receive airthrough inlet conduit 42. Channel opening 40 is in communication with apassage 44 which interconnects recess 27 with recess 32 so that theblended fluid may flow from one recess to the other. In fluidcommunciation with recess 32 is outlet port 45 which has a channelopening 46 extending into the recess. The blended mix is metered throughoutlet port 45 to outlet conduit 47 and from there to an ice creamfreezing machine (not shown). Inlet conduits 38 and 42 and outletconduit 47 threadedly cooperate with their respective ports in casing21.

In order to actuate the impeller members and cause the fluids to beblended a drive shaft (FIG. 8) is provided having eccentrically alignedsurfaces thereon. Drive shaft has one end portion 51 axially offset withrespect to the other end 52. End portion 52 is provided with a key means53 which is adapted to engage a drive means (not shown), such as anelectric motor, and adjacent the key means are ring seals 54 disposed ingrooves 55 in the shaft. A nylon bushing 56 is slidably mounted on theshaft and is held in place by the ring seals 54. Interposed betweenbushing 56 and end portion 51 are two surfaces 57 and 58 which areeccentrically offset with respect to each other. Surface 57 is axiallyaligned with end portion 52 and is eccentrically offset with end portion51.

The drive shaft contacts the interior portions of the pump in the mannerin FIG. 9. End portion 51 is slidably received within an aperture 59 inimpeller 29 and key means 53 with bushing 56 is slidably disposed in anaperture 60 in cover plate 23. Surface 57 has a nylon bushing 61 thereonand is slidably mounted in the axially extending aperture 26 in casing21, and cam surface 58 is disposed in sliding engagement with anaperture 62 in impeller 35.

Rotation of drive shaft 30 causes movement of impellers 29 and in thefollowing manner. As the shaft rotates end portion 51 moves in a patharound the shaft general axis A and results in a sliding and pivoting oroscillatory action about pivot member 28 by impeller 29. Two positionsof impeller 29 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, respectively. Rotation of theshaft causes impeller 35 to move in a path about the general axis Asimilar to that of end portion 51.

The operation of the pump in the production of foamed ice cream will nowbe described with reference to FIGS. 4-7 and 9. Ice cream mix is fedthrough conduit 38 from an outside source and into recess 27simultaneously with the feeding of air into the recess through port 39.Referring to FIG. 7, as mix is fed into recess 27, it fills the gapbetween the impeller periphery and side S of the recess. The mix ismetered around the periphery of the recess as the impeller pivots aboutpivot member 28 until it reaches channel opening and passage 44. At thispoint, the mix is forced into passage 44 by the impeller where it isaerated by the introduction of air through inlet port 39. Due to themovement of impellers 29 and 35 and the greater fluid capacity of thesecond recess 32, a suction is created which draws the mix from recess27 through passage 44 and into the second recess. The added air is fedinto port 39 with a velocity sufficient to cause the fluid ice cream tobe turbulently mixed. When the foamed mix enters recess 32, it ismetered around the periphery thereof by impeller 35 until it reachesoutlet port where it is conveyed through conduit 47 to an ice creamfreezing machine.

The amount of air supplied is dependent upon the quality and quantity ofthe ice cream mix employed and can be varied considerably. It is to beunderstood that the pump may be used to blend two fluids other than airand liquid ice cream and that the preceding description is indicative ofonly one use of the pump.

Preferably, the pump casing and cover plates are manufactured fromstainless steel, however, they may be formed from a substantiallytransparent tough plastic material, such as polymethyl methacrylate(Lucite) or polyoxymethylene (Delrin). The impellers are preferablymanufactured from a tough plastic like Delrin to reduce the 4 fractionload, although other materials may be used equally as well.

It is thus seen that an improved blending pump has been provided formixing a plurality of fluids which is simple in form, easy tomanufacture and eificient in operation.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown, it is tobe undestood that the invention is not limited thereto since many minormodifications may be made; and it is, therefore, contemplated by theappended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired tobe secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for the blending of two fluid streams comprising a casinghaving an axially extending opening therethrough, cover plates on bothsides of said casing sealingly engaged therewith, said casing having afirst recess therein; a first and second inlet means cooperating withsaid first recess, an impeller member mounted in said recess for limitedoscillatory movement relative thereto, the thickness of the impellermember being substantially the same as the depth of the first recess,said impeller member occupying a substantial portion of the recess sothat a space exists between the impeller and the side of the recess forthe metering of fluid; a second recess in said casing opposite saidfirst recess and coaxially aligned therewith, said second inlet meanscooperating with said second recess, a conduit extending between saidrecesses, a second impeller member mounted in the second recess forlimited oscillatory movement relative thereto, the thickness of thesecond impeller member being substantially the same as the depth of thesecond recess, said impeller member occupying a substantial portion ofthe recess so that a space exists between the impeller and the side ofthe recess for the metering of fluid; an outlet means cooperating withsaid second recess, and a shaft having eccentrically aligned surfacesthereon extending through said axially extending opening in the casing,said shaft adapted to actuate said impeller members for conveying thefluids from the inlet means to the outlet means and effecting blending.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the second recess in thecasing has a greater depth than the first recess and the second impellermember has a corresponding greater thickness than the first impellermember.

3. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the recesses in the casingare circular and the impeller members are also circular but are of lessdiameter than said recesses to allow the passage of the fluids.

4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said first and secondrecesses have first and second pivot means therein, respectively, andthe first and second impeller members have a means for cooperating withthe first and second pivot means, respectively.

5. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the pivot means located insaid recesses are angularly disposed with respect to each other.

6. The invention according to claim 4 wherein the conduit extendingbetween said recesses is adjacent to said pivot means in the recesses.

7. The invention according to claim 1 wherein the impeller members aremanufactured from a rigid plastic material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,559,516 7/1951 Russell 25973,142,476 7/1964 Goodwin 259 3,179,382 4/1965 Knedlik 25995 3,179,3834/1965 Knedlik 25995 ROBERT W. JENKINS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.25995

